I was all set to plunge into Blackbird and Gearbox’s Homeworld 3 this spring when I received a slightly underwhelmed intergalactic transmission from Nic, praising the game’s atmosphere and story while ruminating over fussy controls and a want of tactical depth. Like a herd of frigates scenting a pride of destroyers lurking behind a nearby asteroid, I rerouted hastily and took up a holding position approximately one astronomical unit from the Buy button, hoping that the developers might iron out a few of the wrinkles.
Warhorse Studios has delayed medieval open world role-playing game Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 from 2024 to February 11, 2025, though will release 25 minutes of gameplay later in August.
No explicit reason for the delay was given, with Warhorse public relations manager Tobias Stolz-Zwilling merely saying on X/Twitter that “we slipped to 2025.” A three minute video was shared to announce the delay, release date, and Warhorese’s plans for the coming months.
“We aimed for the end of the year and almost made it,” Stolz-Zwilling said. “Almost is not good enough though, so unfortunately we slipped to 2025.”
A message from Warhorse Studios! The official release date for #KCD2 is 11 February 2025. It’s a long wait, but we have a lot to show you between now and release, starting with: ⚔️ 20+ min gameplay showcase at #Gamescom2024 ⚔️ Collectors Edition Reveal ⚔️ Previews from Press and… pic.twitter.com/YSJrxdZZZT
He then said a Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 trailer will be released during Gamescom 2024‘s Opening Night Live showcase on August 20, the 25 minute gameplay video will be released on August 21, and that a Collector’s Edition will also be revealed during the event. Those attending Gamescom in Cologne, Germany can play a demo too.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is promised to be a “behemoth” of a game featuring a map twice the size of the 2018 original, new weapons, a “much more epic” story,” reputation system, and more.
“What we are making now is what it was supposed to be in the beginning, but we weren’t able to do it because we didn’t have enough resources and experiences and all that stuff,” Warhorse creative director Daniel Vavra said in April. “We’ve proven the concept works, so now we can take it to another level, which is what we always wanted.”
In IGN’s 8/10 review of the original, we said: “Kingdom Come: Deliverance is an RPG that does the medieval era right with a refreshingly small-scale story and strong realistic combat.”
Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer
The Persona 3 Reload remake released in February 2024 will “likely never” get female protagonist Kotone Shiomi, who was introduced in a previous iteration of the game, its producer has said.
As reported by PC Gamer, Persona series producer Kazuhisa Wada told Game Informer Magazine that he was “really sorry” but fan pleas for Shiomi’s inclusion will probably never be answered.
“The more we discussed it, the more unlikely it became,” Wada said. “The development time and costs would not have been manageable.
I’m really sorry to all of the fans who were holding out hope.
“Persona 3 Reload has just released, and there is currently a lot of player interest, so if we are to do an additional release, it has to be now. But since it is not possible for us to release Persona 3 Reload with the female protagonist in this window, we just can’t do it. I’m really sorry to all of the fans who were holding out hope, but it is likely never going to happen.”
It was in this latter version the female protagonist was released, so when Atlus announced a full remake promised to be a “complete experience,” many fans were disappointed to learn it wasn’t planning to include FES or Portable content.
The release model of Atlus, particularly of the Shin Megami Tensei (of which Persona originated) and Persona franchises, is starting to frustrate some fans. It’s common practice for the developer to release the base game and then, a year or two later, released essentially a better version with extra content at full cost. Persona 4 received Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 5 received Persona 5 Royal.
Fans therefore took issue with Persona 3 Reload releasing without this content, not just because it was missing, but because they expected Atlus to release an enhanced edition soon after that would include it.
Further frustration came as Atlus confirmed Episode Aegis wouldn’t be available as a standalone but only as part of the $34.99 expansion pass. The “complete experience” promise therefore fell through, with fans actually having to pay a total of $104.98 to play every part of Persona 3 Reload. This still won’t include all the Persona 3 content ever released, of course, and seemingly never will, as the female protagonist and other additional content remains locked in Persona 3 Portable.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
Over 2000 hours spent in various factory games makes me a bit of a purist, I suppose. In theory, I should then be the ideal reviewer to enjoy Shapez 2. But I’m also the ideal reviewer to tear it apart over the most minor hiccups and defects. I’m the Anton Ego of factory games. I don’t like food, I love it. If I don’t love it, I don’t swallow.
Ah, you needn’t worry. This is by far the most fun I’ve had reviewing a game, and Shapez 2 has, in my mind at least, turned the holy trinity of factory games (Factorio, Satisfactory, Dyson Sphere Program) into a holy quartet. Its pared back, everything-is-free-forever approach is quite liberating, and I’ve never had so much fun placing conveyor belts in my life. But 40 hours into my save file, I’ve often found myself yearning for a bit more creativity in the challenges, a few more curveballs sent in my direction.
There have been some truly gorgeous video game statues in our time, from the likes of the First 4 Figures Samus Gravity Suit statue from Metroid to the ludicrous Ghosts ‘n Goblins statue from Dream Figures.
We love one-off designs though; statues that likely won’t be made available to the general public, but nevertheless showcase a level of originality that simply can’t be replicated elsewhere. And yes, we’re a little bit jealous that we can’t get our hands on them, too.
The release date for Dragon Age: The Veilguard has been revealed in a last-minute leak thanks to a naughty video advertisement. Electronic Arts had planned to share the game’s debut-day in about… *checks watchless wrist* … 7 hours, as part of a special release date trailer. But the internet will ever internet, and thanks to some slip-up or other, we have the knowledge just a smidge early. Will I tell you what the actual release date is? Sure. I guess so.
Steam’s seeing a good few sweeping changes of late. They’ve recently added a ‘Trending Free’ tab to separate the no money down and no, money down playables. And, as of September, they’re cracking down on links to other websites in store pages. Now, horror of horrors, they’re coming for your ascii gigachads and “nobody is going to read this review so I’ll just say I’m gay” bangers. The changes are part of their ‘New Helpfulness System’, outlined here.
The new system, which will be enabled by default but can be toggled off, aims to “help potential players make informed decisions about the games they are considering purchasing by understanding the attributes of the game that other players like or don’t like.” Ah, so a sort of ‘review’, if you will. I like it!
Following the arrival of the backyard sandbox game Grounded on the Switch earlier this year, Obsidian has now released a new update for the game which includes some improvements for Switch.
Patch 1.4.4 most notably includes the addition of Gryo aiming controls. Apart from this, Microsoft accounts are no longer permanently linked. Thrown in with all of this are some major fixes and various other fixes. Here’s the full rundown, courtesy of the Grounded website:
Out of all the modern consoles available on the market, Nintendo Switch easily has the most diverse lineup of games available on the system. Nintendo itself has published over 130 games on the platform since it first launched, with thousands from third-party developers also available. Depending on whether or not you buy games physically or digitally, it can be challenging to search for where to overall best place to buy Nintendo Switch games is at any given time.
If you’re new to the console and don’t know where to find games, we’ve put together the ultimate guide on everything you need to know regarding where to buy Switch games online or in stores. Take a look below and add some new games to your Nintendo Switch collection!
Where to Buy Switch Games Online
There are multiple ways to purchase Nintendo Switch games for your console. Purchasing then online tends to be the easiest way to buy any of the most popular Nintendo Switch games, as you can purchase digital or physical versions. Since you don’t need to drive to pick up a game, you can either ship a physical copy to your home or purchase a digital key to start playing immediately. Take a look below to discover the best way to score deals on Nintendo Switch games.
Best Places to Buy Digital Switch Games Online
By far, the best place to purchase digital Switch games is the Nintendo eShop. This is directly accessible from any Nintendo Switch console. The entire library of Nintendo Switch can be bought from the eShop, with many games exclusive to the platform. Since some games are digital-only, you won’t be able to buy physical or digital copies from retailers.
Speaking of, you can also buy certain digital games from online storefronts such as Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and more. These retailers will offer digital codes that you can purchase, which are sent directly to your email inbox upon payment.
Overall, it’s important to pay attention to prices on both the Nintendo eShop and across retailers. The eShop tends to have many more sales throughout the year, but outlets like Amazon and Best Buy will offer discounted digital games for certain sales events that may be better than the eShop discounts.
Best Places to Buy Physical Switch Games Online
As the best place to buy physical Switch games, we recommend Amazon. With a Prime membership, it’s incredibly easy to purchase a physical Switch game and receive lighting fast shipping. Most of the time, you can get in stock Switch games within 24 hours. Plus, Amazon doesn’t charge your card for pre-orders of upcoming Switch games, as the company waits until the item is in stock.
There’s also other solid options like Best Buy, Target, and Walmart. Though, for the latter, you’ll want to be careful when purchasing, as sometimes Walmart has listings for European Switch games. These will work on your system fine, but some players do prefer to own North Amercian, ESRB-rated copies.
Beyond these picks, you can also find rare or limited Nintendo Switch physical copies at retailers like Limited Run Games and Video Games Plus. Since these games are either reprints or limited print runs, you won’t be able to find these at retailers like Amazon or Best Buy.
Beyond traditional retailers, you can even buy physical Switch games directly from Nintendo! Nintendo’s store has almost every Switch game published by the company available, and often, you’ll find discounted titles throughout random periods of the year.
Where Can You Still Find Switch Games in Stores
With the physical market slowly shrinking over the last few years, sometimes it can be difficult to find Switch games in store. Luckily, there are still dozens of stores that carry all sorts of Nintendo Switch games on their shelves. Although the company removed its collection of Blu-rays, Best Buy still offers plenty of Nintendo Switch games. It’s easy to walk into any store and browse the collection of 50+ physical games available, with most of Nintendo’s first-party offerings available.
Additionally, GameStop is a solid option. While we don’t necessarily recommend purchasing online from the retailer, it’s still easy to walk into any GameStop storefront and find a wide variety of Switch games available. In addition, other major retailers like Target and Walmart still offer physical games, but the offerings can vary depending on the store.
When Is the Best Time to Find Discounts on Switch Games
Collecting and purchasing Nintendo Switch games is not a cheap hobby, but you can offset some of that by buying when games are the cheapest during the year. There are many great times to buy video games, but we recommend holding off for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. By far, this is usually the best time to score discounts on Nintendo Switch games, both physically and digitally. Nintendo will discount many of its own titles, and you can score on hundreds of third party releases from major publishers.
The only main downside with this sales event is that Black Friday is at the end of the year, so it can almost become a waiting game in earlier parts of the year. Overall, this Holiday will be an exceptional time to buy Switch games, especially as Nintendo Switch 2 is coming soon.
While the best options for physical games are limited, it’s another story with digital games. The Nintendo eShop hosts countless sales events throughout the year, and it’s easy to find great deals. Our advice is to pay close attention to the news posts on the Nintendo Switch home page, as those will mention any new eShop sales on the horizon.
Noah Hunter is a freelance writer and reviewer with a passion for games and technology. He co-founded Final Weapon, an outlet focused on nonsense-free Japanese gaming (in 2019) and has contributed to various publishers writing about the medium.
